A year ago, Kenneth Bodén would walk with his walker to the bus in Bjurholm to travel the six miles to Umeå. It was gravel on the sidewalk so Kenneth walked on the side of the street. He saw the bus coming, but suddenly the broadside was very close to him and he fell to the ground.
– I could have died there, but I managed with an amputated leg and a small brain haemorrhage, he says.
Look at life positively
He has a positive outlook on life after all, but he is pissed off that he can now rarely take the bus.
– The guys don’t know how to use the lift, so I won’t get on board! They tell me to take the next bus!
This means that he rarely gets on the road, even though he has planned excursions. Kenneth also has a brother who is dying in the hospital in Umeå and now he cannot visit him. He’s not really mad at the drivers, but they can’t have received any training on the lift, he thinks, and one of the drivers he’s actually mad at:
– He said I should jump on the bus even though I only have one leg! That was his solution.
Got a prosthesis
Harriet Söder, who is CEO of Länstrafiken in Västerbotten, says that it is very important that even wheelchair users can ride the bus. She has contacted the bus company that serves Vännäs-Bjurholm, who says that they have had problems with their new buses. The lifts have simply not worked and that must be fixed now, says Harriet Söder.
Kenneth has received a prosthesis, but it rubs and hurts. He practices walking several times a week at the rehabilitation and there they say he might be able to walk by Christmas.
If you can soon walk with a walker again, then you can also ride a bus soon, right?
– Yes, that’s the point! I still look positively on the future, he says, smiling.